(09-06-2018 05:08 PM)Houston Owl Wrote:  Just a personal opinion, but I think the Alumni Office has underperformed in promoting the athletic department when teams visit locations with high concentration of alumni.

As an example, Women's Basketball plays at UCLA this year. I asked whether the Alumni Office has anything planned around that trip..especially due to the expectations around the team and the quality of the athletes as students and representatives of the Rice community...so far complete silence as usual.

Unfortunately, an event likely would be spending money and effort for minimal reward. WBB isn't something most people follow or care about (not saying it's fair, just is what it is); couple this with Rice Athletics marquee sports being dumpster fires and you'd probably get 5 people to show up.

Rice needs the marquee sports to revive interest in the programs as a whole, only then will people start to follow and get onboard. It sucks as the WBB players put in just as much effort as MBB or FB ad are a better team right now but aren't followed or supported well.

To illustrate the marquee point above a little more, I got some 8 odd text messages from people who don't follow Rice sports with regards to us being up at the half vs UH. Also ran into several people I hadn't seen at HRS in over half a decade.

In summary, I don't think the alumni office has underpromoted athletics in a meaningful way (and I say this having a long list of issues regarding communication and planning with the alumni office). Athletics needs to be at a position where promoting brings people, otherwise its the 5 or so LA based Owls who are on Parliament who will be in attendance.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think there was some kind of organized alumni event for the Rice-Stanford baseball this past year? I get the impression that we have more of an alumni presence in the Bay Area than Los Angeles but could be wrong!

(09-06-2018 10:08 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  Correct me if I'm wrong but I think there was some kind of organized alumni event for the Rice-Stanford baseball this past year? I get the impression that we have more of an alumni presence in the Bay Area than Los Angeles but could be wrong!

There has been an alumni event every year Rice baseball plays in Palo Alto.

I was in Tampa in 2000 for the collegiate rugby final fours--men and women in same location. Princeton played Penn State in the women's championship game. Princeton had a pregame alumni event and barbecue, with I'm guessing 150-200 present. Then the game started. Emil Signes was coaching the Princeton team then. He had a spotter or two in the press box and he had headphones talking to them, as did a couple of assistant coaches. They had a trainer/physio and about 6 student managers.

That is when I realized that the Ivies do a lot more to support club and minor sports than we do.